Shadows Fall toured in 1998 and opened for Six Feet Under, Overcast and Shai Hulud. Other shows the band had included the Cleveland "World Series of Metal" event, Milwaukee Metalfest, and one show on the Van Warped package tour. In the fall of 1998, Phil Labonte left Shadows Fall and was replaced by Brain Fair. In a later interview in 2007, Labonte explained why he left Shadows Fall:
What happened was Brian [Fair], who is their current singer, the band that he was in broke up. When I tried out, they were like, "Oh, can you do stuff like Brian from Overcast?" And I was like, "OK, I'll try." I kind of had my own sound. I didn't sound like Brian, and when he became available, they were like, "Look, we want to get another singer. We want to get Brian." I was like, "Okay. Cool." There's no hard feelings or anything like that 'cause I knew it was the dude they had in mind in the first place and also I had already started writing stuff for All That Remains. We had probably three songs put together, so I was just like, "Alright, whatever." Shadows Fall wasn't — I mean, obviously Shadows Fall wasn't nearly as far along as they are now. They didn't even have a record deal at the time. So it's not like it was like, "Oh god, what could have been," you know? It was like, "Whatever." And last time we played here with Shadows Fall, it wasn't sold out. And they were headlining. We're headlining tonight and it's sold out, so I'm not sweating. I'm not sweating. I don't worry about what Shadows Fall does anymore, not even a little bit. I was never the dude that was like, "Oh my god." It never bothered me. We were always friends and stuff like that, but now, whatever. I don't care. [7]
Fair replaced Labonte after Fair's previous band Overcast disbanded. Shadows Fall then performed again at the Milwaukee Metalfest and the New Jersey March Metal Meltdown. This caught the attention of Century Media Records, and the record label signed Shadows Fall in late 1999. A headline show earned Shadows Fall the top billing for the New England "Metal & Hardcore" festival in 2000.
Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin Foley. The band has released eight studio albums and three live performance albums. Their eighth studio album, Atonement, was released on August 16, 2019.
Alive or Just Breathing is the second studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on May 21, 2002, through Roadrunner Records. Alive or Just Breathing was Killswitch Engage's first album on Roadrunner and was recorded from October 2001 to February 2002. Produced by drummer and guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, this was the band's first album on a major label, which prompted them to write and record the album to the best of their abilities. Alive or Just Breathing has been viewed as a landmark album in the metalcore genre and was well praised upon its release by fans and critics. The lyrics, which were all written by vocalist Jesse Leach, were intended to bring a positive message through the music.
Cryptopsy is a Canadian technical death metal band from Montreal, formed in 1988.
Metalcore is a fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, that originated in the late 1980s. Among other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of breakdowns, which are slow, intense passages conducive to moshing. Other defining instrumentation includes heavy guitar riffs often utilizing percussive pedal tones and double bass drumming. Vocalists in the genre typically perform screaming, more popular bands often combine this with the use of standard singing, usually during the bridge or chorus of a song. However the death growl is also a popular technique within the genre.
Moonsorrow is a Finnish pagan metal band formed in Helsinki in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound. The band call their sound "epic heathen metal" and try to distance themselves from the term "Viking metal". They have distanced themselves from other folk metal bands, emphasising that their music is pagan and spiritual and is challenging for its listeners, rather than happy or danceable. The band members have varying levels of pagan belief but they draw on pagan spirituality for lyrics and inspiration.
Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel Dune.
Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of Jon Donais, Matt Bachand, Paul Romanko (bass), Brian Fair, and Jason Bittner (drums).
Brian James Fair is an American musician from Massachusetts, best known as lead vocalist of the metalcore band Shadows Fall. He graduated from Milford High School in 1993, and went on to study literature at Boston University.
Jonathan Donais, also known as Jon Donais, is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Anthrax since 2013, and as co-founder and lead guitarist of metalcore band Shadows Fall.
Matt Bachand is an American guitarist. He has strong death metal and thrash metal influences. He is rhythm guitarist and clean vocalist for the metalcore band Shadows Fall, and the bassist for Act of Defiance.
This Is Hell is an American hardcore punk band from Long Island, New York. The band is known for extensive touring and high energy concerts. They have released five studio albums and five EPs.
Behind Silence and Solitude is the debut studio album by the American metalcore band All That Remains, recorded in early 2000 and released on March 26, 2002. It is the only All That Remains album with guitarist Chris Bartlett and bass guitarist Dan Egan. A re-issued, remastered version of the album, with all new artwork, was released on October 9, 2007. The artwork was designed by Killswitch Engage bass guitarist Mike D'Antonio. Being the band's first album, it is the only album not to include any singles or music videos.
Philip Steven Labonte is an American singer from Massachusetts, best known as the lead singer of the metalcore band All That Remains. He is the former lead vocalist for Shadows Fall, was the touring vocalist for Killswitch Engage in early 2010, and also filled in for Five Finger Death Punch vocalist Ivan Moody in late 2016.
Fallout from the War is a compilation album by heavy metal band Shadows Fall, released on June 13, 2006. It contains a selection of songs written during the sessions for The War Within and The Art of Balance, as well as some covers by bands that have inspired Shadows Fall over the years. Fallout from the War is billed as a "companion" to The War Within. It was their final release for Century Media before moving to Atlantic Records.
Bloodlust is the debut studio album by American deathcore band Through the Eyes of the Dead, released on October 25, 2005 through Prosthetic Records. After releasing an EP and a split, Through the Eyes of the Dead released Bloodlust. The album is considered a deathcore album with elements of melodic death metal, featuring a musical style similar to bands like At the Gates and The Black Dahlia Murder. Before the deathcore label existed, Bloodlust was labeled as metalcore due to its combination of melodic death metal with occasional hardcore breakdowns, which resembled metalcore. Bloodlust's lyrics were inspired by serial killers, and depicted poetic lyrics telling stories and imagery. Through the Eyes of the Dead cited Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Death, In Flames, At the Gates and Dark Tranquility as influences.
Immortal Souls is a melodic death metal band from Kokkola, Finland, formed in 1991. They released a split album and their debut on Little Rose Productions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2002, Immortal Souls signed with Dutch label Fear Dark which released their second and third album as well as a compilation. They have performed at Tuska Open Air Metal Festival. Their musical style is characterized by their use of melodic guitar riffs and singing which shifts between growls and shouting. Their music has been called winter metal since Immortal Souls utilizes frosty metaphors in their lyrics and usually creates a cold, wintry atmosphere. The album Wintereich was released in 2007 in Europe on Dark Balance and in the USA through Facedown Records.
All That Remains is an American metalcore band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1998. They have released nine studio albums, a live CD and DVD, and have sold over a million records worldwide. The group currently consists of vocalist Philip Labonte, rhythm guitarist Mike Martin, and lead guitarist Jason Richardson, with Labonte being the last remaining original member. In spite of this, the band's line-up had remained consistent from the release of 2008's Overcome until 2015's The Order of Things, spanning four albums. This line-up changed, however, in September 2015, when long-time bassist Jeanne Sagan left the band, with Patrick taking her place, and then again in February 2019, when the band confirmed that Jason Richardson would be joining the band to replace the deceased lead guitarist and original member, Oli Herbert. In 2021, Aaron Patrick parted ways with All That Remains to focus on his other band, Bury Your Dead.
Madness in Manila: Shadows Fall Live in the Philippines 2009, commonly referred to as simply Madness in Manila, is the second concert DVD by American thrash metal band Shadows Fall and was released on October 26, 2010 via Everblack Industries/Ferret Music. The disc included footage that was shot on April 30, 2009 at the Pulp Summer Slam in Manila, Philippines.
7 Angels 7 Plagues was an American metalcore band from Racine, Wisconsin.
Demons was the first major EP released by From Her Eyes on 25 August 2014.
